WHO hails Vietnam’s flexible COVID-19 prevention strategy

Meeting with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in Hanoi on January 11, Takeshi said Vietnam has made great strides in stepping up its vaccination campaign, protecting most vulnerable groups such as the elderly and frontline forces, and raising public awareness of measures to protect themselves, their families, the community as well.

Vietnam is on the right track as it is continuing to adjust its Omicron measures, such as offering home care and treatment services to mild or asymptomatic cases to avoid overloading the medical system, while promptly and actively treating severe cases at medical facilities, he said.

The WHO official also thanked Vietnam for supporting countries early in pandemic prevention and control and for making positive contributions to WHO as well as the COVAX mechanism.

For his part, PM Pham Minh Chinh shared Vietnam’s experiences and lessons in pandemic prevention and control, and said despite difficulties, the Vietnamese Government will persist with its adopted strategy of living safely with COVID, striving to beat off the virus in 2022.

Vietnam considers COVID-19 to be a global challenge, and no country is safe if the virus is still spreading, he said, adding Vietnam has always strictly followed the WHO’s recommendations in line with its actual situation.

He suggested that the WHO and Takeshi personally continue to support Vietnam with vaccines and therapeutic drugs, especially in research, production and domestic vaccine recognition procedures so that it can soon become self-sufficient in supply.

He also asked the WHO to help Vietnam enhance the capacity building of its health system, to share information, timely assess the epidemic situation and make vaccination recommendations.

The PM expressed hope the WHO will provide consultations regarding vaccinations for children aged 5 to 11 so that the campaign will be soon deployed and schools will soon reopen the doors for the kids.

At the reception, Kidong Park, WHO Representative in Vietnam, hailed Vietnam’s commitment to improve the capacity building of its grassroots-level medical station and preventive medicine systems to not only combat COVID-19 but also to cope with the aging of the population in the future.

He expressed his belief that Vietnam will continue to respond effectively, safely and flexibly to the pandemic, and in the long run will become an exemplary role model in the region and in the world in health care.

The WHO will actively accompany, support and share information and experiences with Vietnam in this process, he affirmed.